Almost tween after school snack ideas

[#2ontheway]

I thought we had more time for this, but apparently not.

My kids come home from school and they are starving. They want to make boxed mac and cheese, quesadillas, pasta/sauce, toasted english muffins, whatever bread they can find. We usually eat dinner pretty early and so of course I encourage fruits/veggies/protein and they think I am the meanest parent in the world.

I need snack ideas for what I suspect will eventually become basically a mid afternoon meal. We try to eat reasonably healthy.

[essnce629]

What time do they get home and what time do you usually eat dinner? My kids are always starving too and ready to raid the fridge. On days that dinner is already made (leftovers) I convince them to just eat dinner instead. We get home at 4 and have eaten dinner at 4:30 many times.

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[boilermakermom]

Same here. We usually just grab dinner. Otherwise we try and do sliced cheese, apples or grapes, crackers or chips.

If I allow chips or something junky, then I make sure they know that is their junk for the night.

I usually give them homemade trail mix to eat on the way home so they aren’t hangry when we walk in the door.

[SnuggleBuggles]

If my kiddo is that hungry, I make real food. If they want quesadillas...and i already had a dinner that’s planned, no biggie. I’ll make both because if 2 4 they’ll probably want more real food by 8. Yeah, not great for family meal time but at this point we only manage that on Sundays due to schedules.


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[georgiegirl]

I just give them real food, either a mini meal or early dinner. There’s no point in fighting it and making them eat fruit, which won’t satisfy them if they are starving.


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[almostmom]

bagels, frozen pizza snacks or taquitos, apples and cheese or peanut putter, yogurt and granola or belvita, smoothie, cereal, hard boiled eggs, toast, frozen chicken nuggets, meatball sub with frozen meatballs and jarred sauce, hot dogs, banana cut up with peanut butter, chocolate chip multigrain pancakes, pretzels and hummus...

[MSWR0319]

I'm struggling with this right now. My kids get home at 2:45 and we usually eat dinner around 4:30/4:45 because of their practice schedules. They get home and start eating everything in sight, but then only eat half their supper. I"m trying to get them to make better choices or get them to eat part of what I had planned for supper. Swim season just started so they'll be eating another meal after practice :ROTFLMAO:

[DualvansMommy]

There’s 2-3 evenings where we’ve eaten early like 4:30-4:45 to take youngest for his activity. The kids walk in the door little after 4 and often times their activity is at 5 or 5:30 for one of them. So I often just feed the early activity kid and parent who’s taking him. And save dinner for DS1 and other parent around 6:30, or eat a big snack if he had ate big dinner at 4:30.

It seem to lessen the continuous trend of eating various snacky food without really being full. I prefer my kids to have an early big nutritious meal and a snack before bedtime. I usually eat my own later as often not hungry around 4/5pm.


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[Kindra178]

We do 100 percent real food after school. We eat dinner anywhere between 5-7 and they get home at 3.30. Kids sometimes eat slightly later due to activities. Even when we eat at 5.15, a quesadilla after school doesn’t ruin their dinner. And honestly, who cares if it does?

We do bagel sandwiches, turkey quesadillas, grilled cheese or frozen items like tj chicken tacos or burritos.


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[twowhat?]

What time do they get home and what time do you usually eat dinner? My kids are always starving too and ready to raid the fridge. On days that dinner is already made (leftovers) I convince them to just eat dinner instead. We get home at 4 and have eaten dinner at 4:30 many times.

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This is exactly what we do too, though I realize that this is very hard to pull off if you work outside of the home. For those who work at home, or part-time, or are SAHMs, you can try just simply making/serving dinner early. We have eaten dinner by 5pm nearly every night this week. I work FT from home so I'm at least able to prep and get a meal into the Instant Pot or oven. I have found there's another HUGE advantage to this: they are so hungry they will try ANYTHING and we have added items to their food repertoire that they would otherwise have turned their noses up at! And a 3rd advantage - for those doing intermittent fasting, this works out GREAT :)

But if you need snack ideas, my kids like PB and apples, string cheese or just sliced cheddar cheese, triscuits, Luna bars (I know they're sugary), salami and cheese on crackers. Another idea that has worked well for us: I do "Reverse Dinner" where they get to eat dessert first. That does the trick on days I am not able to have dinner ready. They can have their 2 scoops of ice cream as an after school "snack" (which is really their after-dinner dessert), and then we eat dinner a little later (6-7pm) but no dessert after, because they already had it! My kids LOVE Reverse Dinners (and yes, that's what we call it)! LOL!

eta: mine are also just old enough/motivated enough that they know how to make healthy egg burritos so we do that for dinner at least once a week because it's fast and delicious. The kids do most of it themselves, including the knife work and cracking the eggs, and I think they could totally be 100% independent with these (they just want me to watch for comfort haha). Dice some onion and mushroom (or buy sliced mushroom to save time). Heat a little olive oil up in a pan, and cook the onion and mushroom until they start to soften/turn golden brown. Add big handful of baby spinach and stir until wilted. Add whisked egg and scramble the whole thing gently until cooked through, then transfer to a plate. Wrap up 2 flour tortillas in damp paper towel and heat in microwave 20-30 seconds. Add the veggie scramble, a little salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, and enjoy. You can omit mushrooms (DD1 hates them, DD2 loves them). If your local grocery sells fresh tortillas (ours does), they take this recipe up several notches :) If you want a gluten-free version, omit the tortillas and cook hash browns as a side.

[#2ontheway]

I'm struggling with this right now. My kids get home at 2:45 and we usually eat dinner around 4:30/4:45 because of their practice schedules. They get home and start eating everything in sight, but then only eat half their supper. I"m trying to get them to make better choices or get them to eat part of what I had planned for supper. Swim season just started so they'll be eating another meal after practice :ROTFLMAO:

Exactly! My kids get home around 3:15. If there is some kind of activity we'll eat dinner really early (maybe 4:30) so I really don't want them to eat a box of mac and cheese at 3:30.

If we don't have an activity we still eat pretty early (maybe 5:30). And I do find if I can get them to snack reasonably and not have a "meal" for a snack they are much more likely to eat dinner. And we really want them to eat the dinner we make. That's probably part of the snack battle right now - it's almost like they are trying to sneak a "meal" with crap food they like, so that when the "real" dinner comes they aren't hungry (but, amazingly, when their snack is more reasonable, they eat their dinner veggies with gusto!).

Thanks for all the ideas. Right now I'm pushing whole fruit, wheat crackers, cheese sticks, pepperoni.

[mom2binsd]

Lots of ideas in the frozen food section, and they will be fine with not totally healthy food, mine love pizza rolls, Mac and cheese in a cup etc, but I am much more lenient on food choices than most on this board, but my kids are very active, healthy (except when DD doesn't eat when she's supposed to at high school in between swim practices because she says she's busy). Have a turkey or ham sandwich available, let them have a few chips, a cheese stick, beef jerky, grab a piece of fruit.

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[carolinamama]

My boys are both starving in the afternoon. Yesterday DS2 ate a cheese stick with salami slice wrapped around it, a whole banana, a large serving of homemade green smoothie and a peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat. That was all before soccer practice! I can't feed mine an early dinner before their practices - that leads to just eating 2 dinners instead of a large snack and dinner. I try for lots of protein in the afternoons with a side of fruit. It doesn't spoil their dinner for sure. Examples include:

Cheese stick with slice of salami wrapped around it
Apple slices with peanut butter
Oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder mixed in
Trail mix
Protein balls
Baked oatmeal
Clif bars or Luna bars in a pinch
Peanut butter on graham crackers
Peanut butter and banana sandwich

[gatorsmom]

My kids eat dinner as soon as they come home (leftovers) and eat a smaller snack later while doing homework or after an evening activity. The kids and I cook 5 complete meals on Sundays to eat the rest of the week so there is always some sort of leftover ready for them once they get home from school. It eliminates the stress of cooking a healthy meal and having it ready for them each day when they get home.

[jgenie]

My kids eat dinner as soon as they come home (leftovers) and eat a smaller snack later while doing homework or after an evening activity. The kids and I cook 5 complete meals on Sundays to eat the rest of the week so there is always some sort of leftover ready for them once they get home from school. It eliminates the stress of cooking a healthy meal and having it ready for them each day when they get home.

I find this fascinating! What do you cook? How involved are your kids? At what ages did you start? How old is your youngest now? TIA

[#2ontheway]

I find this fascinating! What do you cook? How involved are your kids? At what ages did you start? How old is your youngest now? TIA

Agreed! This sounds really interesting to me and like it could be a great solution. Kids are definitely more motivated to eat something when they've participated in preparing it.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm mostly in this thread for ideas. No surprise that my girls aren't huge snackers, but one thing that's remained popular is Joe's Os. The favorite before-sport mini-meal is almond butter sandwiches.

[gatorsmom]

I find this fascinating! What do you cook? How involved are your kids? At what ages did you start? How old is your youngest now? TIA

Sorry, I just saw this. It's been a busy last few days!

For the last 4 years an elderly friend of our family has been making 5 meals each week for us. He's retired chef and he and his wife wanted a little extra spending money. Just this past August, he retired from cooking for us. He used to decide the menu, shop for the ingredients and then deliver 5 complete meals to our house each Monday afternoon. Those meals would usually last 7-9 days for the kids and DH and I. This worked really well because our weeknights are so busy. And it was wonderful to have meals ready to reheat when the kids got home from school.

So, once he retired, I was dreading cooking because A)I"m not that great a cook and the kids always complain that my cooking "isn't as good as Maury's cooking!" and B) it's a thankless, time-consuming chore that inevitably resulted in my food wasted while the kids scavenged frozen chicken nuggets or spaghettios. I figured if the kids were involved in the cooking, they wouldn't complain as much. They are always willing to eat food they help make. So for the past 5 weeks we have been doing this and it's turned out better than I predicted.

Once a month, after looking at the calendar's upcoming activities, we decide what we are going to cook for the month. My oldest 2 boys (ages 16 and 14yo) each are responsible for choosing and cooking one meal per week as is Dh and DS3 (he's 11yo), and DD (she's also 11 yo) and I. Each kid has Saturday or Sunday to cook their meal for the upcoming week. Based on the list we set in advance, I shop for groceries on Friday or Saturday morning so they have everything they need to make their meal during the weekend. The kids can propose the meals they want to make but 4 out of the 6 of us have to be willing to eat the meal they propose. If 3 of us say yuck, then they have to choose something else. And it has to be a complete meal with protein and some fresh (not all canned) veggies. I've saved all the menus that Maury made for the last few years and we get our meal ideas from the menus he made. So, for the month of September, DS1 made: Corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes in the slow cooker (it was delicious!), fajitas with sautéed peppers and onions, bratwursts with sauerkraut, and layered dorito casserole. DS2 made: grilled paninis with tomato and onion slices in them (he made them on the george forman grill and the kids reheated them on there throughout the week), taco salad bar with cooked ground beef, chopped veggies and herbs, deli platter with pre-cooked bacon, lettuce and sliced tomatoes to make different variations of BLTs, and then chicken stir-fry with rice. DD and I made a pizza bar for build-it-yourself pizzas, scalloped ham and potatoes (with broccoli florets mixed in), chicken parmesan served with zoodles (zucchini noodles), and hoison pork with root vegetables (turnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions), in the slow cooker. This past Sunday was crazy hectic for us since I didn't pick up the groceries until after church and the boys had a boy scout troop meeting but we made: grilled salmon with cauliflower rice and grilled vegetable skewers, chihiquillas, and meatballs and italian sausage bake over penne pasta with homemade tomato sauce. My 11yo made the tomato sauce by herself! (from an epicurious recipe). We only made 3 meals this week because DH and the oldest 2 boys will be gone camping with the Boy scouts so not here to eat meals with us. Everything is in the refrigerator and ready to be assembled and microwaved when the kids get home from school.

I really thought the kids would complain and get tired of doing this after the second week but I think the key is that they choose meals they like and want to cook. I help them if they get behind (this past weekend I cut up the vegetables for DS1 to make his skewers with because he had laundry to do and homework to finish after the boy scout meeting). And since I didn't make a meal this week, I made dessert for them (frog eye salad from the Allrecipes.com website). Another thing that makes this relatively easy is that i order the groceries online and then use their pick-up service instead of going into the grocery store to shop. Hth!

[jgenie]

Sorry, I just saw this. It's been a busy last few days!

For the last 4 years an elderly friend of our family has been making 5 meals each week for us. He's retired chef and he and his wife wanted a little extra spending money. Just this past August, he retired from cooking for us. He used to decide the menu, shop for the ingredients and then deliver 5 complete meals to our house each Monday afternoon. Those meals would usually last 7-9 days for the kids and DH and I. This worked really well because our weeknights are so busy. And it was wonderful to have meals ready to reheat when the kids got home from school.

So, once he retired, I was dreading cooking because A)I"m not that great a cook and the kids always complain that my cooking "isn't as good as Maury's cooking!" and B) it's a thankless, time-consuming chore that inevitably resulted in my food wasted while the kids scavenged frozen chicken nuggets or spaghettios. I figured if the kids were involved in the cooking, they wouldn't complain as much. They are always willing to eat food they help make. So for the past 5 weeks we have been doing this and it's turned out better than I predicted.

Once a month, after looking at the calendar's upcoming activities, we decide what we are going to cook for the month. My oldest 2 boys (ages 16 and 14yo) each are responsible for choosing and cooking one meal per week as is Dh and DS3 (he's 11yo), and DD (she's also 11 yo) and I. Each kid has Saturday or Sunday to cook their meal for the upcoming week. Based on the list we set in advance, I shop for groceries on Friday or Saturday morning so they have everything they need to make their meal during the weekend. The kids can propose the meals they want to make but 4 out of the 6 of us have to be willing to eat the meal they propose. If 3 of us say yuck, then they have to choose something else. And it has to be a complete meal with protein and some fresh (not all canned) veggies. I've saved all the menus that Maury made for the last few years and we get our meal ideas from the menus he made. So, for the month of September, DS1 made: Corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes in the slow cooker (it was delicious!), fajitas with sautéed peppers and onions, bratwursts with sauerkraut, and layered dorito casserole. DS2 made: grilled paninis with tomato and onion slices in them (he made them on the george forman grill and the kids reheated them on there throughout the week), taco salad bar with cooked ground beef, chopped veggies and herbs, deli platter with pre-cooked bacon, lettuce and sliced tomatoes to make different variations of BLTs, and then chicken stir-fry with rice. DD and I made a pizza bar for build-it-yourself pizzas, scalloped ham and potatoes (with broccoli florets mixed in), chicken parmesan served with zoodles (zucchini noodles), and hoison pork with root vegetables (turnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions), in the slow cooker. This past Sunday was crazy hectic for us since I didn't pick up the groceries until after church and the boys had a boy scout troop meeting but we made: grilled salmon with cauliflower rice and grilled vegetable skewers, chihiquillas, and meatballs and italian sausage bake over penne pasta with homemade tomato sauce. My 11yo made the tomato sauce by herself! (from an epicurious recipe). We only made 3 meals this week because DH and the oldest 2 boys will be gone camping with the Boy scouts so not here to eat meals with us. Everything is in the refrigerator and ready to be assembled and microwaved when the kids get home from school.

I really thought the kids would complain and get tired of doing this after the second week but I think the key is that they choose meals they like and want to cook. I help them if they get behind (this past weekend I cut up the vegetables for DS1 to make his skewers with because he had laundry to do and homework to finish after the boy scout meeting). And since I didn't make a meal this week, I made dessert for them (frog eye salad from the Allrecipes.com website). Another thing that makes this relatively easy is that i order the groceries online and then use their pick-up service instead of going into the grocery store to shop. Hth!

Wow! I’m mean wow!! This is such a great idea!!